Tag Archives: Matt Shea

Given the havoc we all know the American Legislative Exchange Council has created on so many levels effecting our past and present; we all know that we need to make sure companies DUMP ALEC for a better Future. If Coca-Cola, Kraft and Pepsi-Co among others can … so can our State Representatives and Senators.

Coca-Cola quit ALEC Wednesday. PepsiCo revealed the same day that it had quietly decided to let its membership lapse. Intuit Inc. confirmed that it is exiting ALEC. And Kraft Foods has announced that: “Our membership in ALEC expires this spring and for a number of reasons, including limited resources, we have made the decision not to renew.”

Translation: Kraft — like other corporations that produce consumer products and, thus, must appeal to the great mass of Americans — no longer wants to be associated with a shadowy group that links corporations and legislators in order to advance extreme (and extremely unpopular) agendas.

Nichols continues:

…But just as the challenges to the corporate sponsors of ALEC are essential, so too are challenges to the legislators who maintain membership in the groups.These legislators are not thinking for themselves. They are taking their cues from an inside-the-beltway, corporate-sponsored group that effectively demands that they dismiss the will of their constituents in favor of the demands of those corporations. It’s a dangerous calculus for democracy. And it is time to start asking legislators why they are answering to multinational corporations rather than hometown voters.

The Maine’s Majority movement has asked legislators in that state to give up their American Legislative Exchange Council memberships, “Given what we now know about ALEC and its detrimental effect on Maine’s public policy, there’s no excuse for Maine legislators to continue their involvement in the organization,” says Maine’s Majority executive director Chris Korzen. “The fact that Coke, Pepsi and Kraft have left ALEC speaks volumes to how toxic the group has become. It’s time for Maine’s ALEC members to follow suit.”